He's an Emmy-nominated actor who’s now the star of a hit network series (CBS’ “Life in Pieces”). He’s also an independent filmmaker whose debut documentary continues to earn praise. Colin Hanks’ career – or careers – is thriving. On the other hand, that doesn’t always leave enough free time to, say, take in the sights of Nashville during his upcoming visit.

“I don't know how much of Nashville I'm gonna be able to see, which sucks, because it's a fantastic city,” he says.

Still, Hanks will be making the most of his short time in Music City. He’s coming to town to host a May 17 screening of that aforementioned documentary, “All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records” at the Nashville Film Festival. That same day, he’ll help induct late Tower Records founder Russ Solomon into the Music Business Hall of Fame.

Hanks and Solomon became close friends through the making of “All Things Must Pass,” and the Nashville screening will be the film’s first since Solomon’s passing on March 4 at age 92.

The record store chain was actually founded in Hanks’ hometown of Sacramento, California. “All Things Must Pass” chronicles Tower’s unlikely ascent and inevitable decline, with thoughts from longtime employees as well as Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and Dave Grohl.

Ahead of his brief visit to Music City (right on the heels of his dad, Tom Hanks, who was just in town), Hanks called the Tennessean to talk about the “incredible journey” he’s been on with his film.

On bringing the 2015 film back to a movie theater

“I've been really fortunate to have gone to some really incredible screenings, (like) our initial first screening in Austin, where I got a standing ovation. That was the first time I had screened anything of mine in front of an audience of strangers. That was about as crazy emotional as you could possibly get. We screened it for old employees and music execs, and the response has been really great. And I thought we were sort of done with that. But given what's transpired with Russ passing, this is definitely going to be another very emotional experience. It feels weird to say that I'm looking forward to it, because of course I'm not. I would very much rather this not be the case. But I think it's going to be a pretty unique way for people to see the film."

What surprised him most about the Tower Records story

"The biggest surprise was just how much they all seemed to fly by the seat of their pants. You would think that it was this crazy goal-oriented huge company. When I was a kid, it was so big already, I was surprised that it was just Russ saying, 'We didn't know what we were doing. We were just figuring s--- out as we went along.’

To be perfectly honest, one of the greatest lessons I've ever learned in my life is you don't have to know exactly what it is you're trying to do. What do you have to know is that you have to do it, and you want to do it. The key to that is surrounding yourself with like-minded people who have strengths that you don't have. Trying to bring people together to pull off the magic trick: to open the store. For me, that was to make the (film)."

Tower was in the ‘right place at that right time’

“The arc of Tower is so ingrained in the evolution of pop culture and what things were like. The simple fact that they didn't have a dress code, and you didn't have to cut your hair and wear a suit. That was like revolutionary. It's almost glossed over nowadays, but at that time in the early '60s, if you were selling something, you were on the floor in a suit with your hair cut nicely. The fact that they were like, 'No, you don't have to do any of that.' ...that was f---ing huge, that was a big deal. They were consistently in the right place at that right time, with that right attitude.”

In this Oct. 26, 2016 photo, Colin Hanks poses for a portrait in New York to promote his series, "Life in Pieces." Hanks will direct an upcoming documentary on the American band, Eagles of Death Metal, before and after the 2015 Paris terror attack at one of their concerts that killed 89 people. (Photo by Victoria Will]/Invision/AP)(Photo: Victoria Will, Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

He became ‘really close’ with Tower’s founder

"I was always checking in with him and his wife, Patti, making sure that all was well. I became really close with them, as well as a handful of the Tower family. That was sort of the promise I made to them. I said, 'Look, I'm not just gonna make a movie about you, and then you're never gonna hear from me again.' And of course, Patti would never let that happen to begin with (laugh). She's an incredible lady. I communicated with them how I honored I was, because Russ had asked me (to induct him into the Music Business Hall of Fame). We were looking forward to having a fun weekend together, but unfortunately, that wasn't able to happen.”

What’s next for him as a filmmaker?

"We were so incredibly lucky coming out of the gate with Tower because we had picked this idea, and then it just so happened that there were these incredibly great storytellers there, ready to tell their story. It was just as lucky as what Russ did opening up a store in San Francisco right in the midst of the Summer of Love. I hope to be able to do more documentaries, but I also have some other ideas in terms of scripted stuff that I want to do. I've created all of these different areas of the sandbox to play in between directing and acting, and it would be great if I could combine those two at some point."

See the film

Colin Hanks will attend a special screening of "All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records" at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 17 at Regal Hollywood 27. The film will be followed by a Q&A. Tickets are $15 and on sale now at www.nashvillefilmfestival.org

The screening is part of the 49th annual Nashville Film Festival, which takes place May 10-19 at Regal Hollywood 27.

March 4, 2018: Russ Solomon, the founder of Tower Records, has died at age 92. The global chain revolutionized the record-selling industry; the company's rise (and eventual fall) was documented in the 2015 film "All Things Must Pass." In recent years, Solomon worked as a photographer. The cause of death was a heart attack, his son, Michael Solomon, told the Sacramento Bee.(Photo: Special for The Republic)